The Outcast Son-In-Law: Rise From Ashes

CHAPTER 6: A HUNDRED-BILLION CONTRACT TORN TO SHREDS

Aurelia knew Alexander had potential— but only potential.

Harbr International was the largest cosmetics distribution company overseas. Annual sales exceeding ten billion. Even the Virel family, with all their old money and connections, could not secure a contract with terms this favorable. And he was just a live-in husband.

The more she thought about it, the more certain she became.

"Why are you giving me a fake contract? Do you want me to become a laughingstock in high society?"

Alexander was speechless. He tried anyway.

"Aurelia, what are you talking about? This contract is real. I went through a lot to get it."

She threw it back at him.

"Who are you trying to fool? No one gets an exclusive contract from Harbr International without restrictions on term or clauses. Do you think you're the CEO?"

He picked it up. He kept his voice steady.

"It's real. If you don't believe me, contact their CEO yourself."

"Do you even know how powerful this company is? Annual sales of ten billion. How could I possibly reach their CEO?"

Alexander looked at her for a moment.

Then he dialed.

The call connected. He spoke briefly and then held the phone out to her.

"He'll explain it himself."

The voice on the other end was calm and professional and sounded exactly like the CEO she had seen in interviews.

She hung up.

"Technology is so advanced these days. Why try to fool me with an AI-generated voice? I'm really disappointed."

Something in his expression broke quietly.

"I spent a lot of money and called in every favor I had to get this contract. I gave you everything I have. And you only ever doubt me."

His voice was earnest. For a moment she wavered.

Then she called Nahir.

"Nah, I received an unrestricted contract from Harbr International. Your family has dealings with them. Is it possible for them to offer something like this?"

Nahir's voice carried a smile she couldn't quite read.

"No way. Harbr International is always very strict with their contracts. They would never offer something like that. Unless the other party is a long-term partner or a major shareholder with authority to directly intervene in contract terms. But there's no way Alex could get that. Even our family couldn't."

She hung up.

When she looked at Alexander again, the wavering was gone.

"Just take care of the household. Why go through the trouble of fabricating a gift? You've really disappointed me."

"It's bad enough that you can't make money. But now you're making fake anniversary gifts to save face? Have you thought about how humiliated I'll be next Wednesday if I walk into Harbr International with a forged document? Do you think their CEO will treat me like a joke?"

"You really don't need to do any of this. Isn't it enough to just take care of the home?"

Alexander felt the words land one by one.

The contract he had spent months securing. The connections he had quietly exhausted. All of it dismissed in the time it took Nahir to answer a phone call.

This was how it always was. She always chose Nahir. Even when it came to trust.

His arm still ached from the glass. His heart ached worse.

"I've told you everything I need to," he said. "Believe it or not. That's up to you."

She snatched the contract and tore it.

Pages scattered. She tore what remained and dropped the pieces on the floor.

Then she grabbed the box holding the pink diamond and threw it at the wall. It hit the floor near the baseboard with a hollow sound.

The unlimited black card followed.

"If the contract is fake, these must be fake too. Don't pretend to be rich just to save face. I don't need this kind of cheap love."

She turned to leave.

Alexander crouched down and began picking up the torn pieces one by one. He cupped them carefully in his palm.

It did not feel like paper being torn. It felt like something else entirely. Something that could not be made whole again no matter how carefully you gathered the pieces.

She stopped at the door.

"Tomorrow morning I'm taking you to apologize to Nah. Kair Coffee, downstairs from the company. He's finally back in the country and your behavior today was completely out of line. Dressing like a waiter in front of our guests, speaking to him like that. I'm very disappointed in you."

He looked up at her.

Something that had been bending inside him for a long time finally reached its limit.

"Why should I apologize? Aurelia, do you even remember whose wife you are? You showed no regard for my dignity at that banquet. If you were somewhere private, would you and Nah have ended up in bed together?"

She exploded.

"Alexander, what are you saying? I told you we are just colleagues! Don't let me hear those words again! Otherwise I'll cut off your allowance..."

She stopped.

The truth arrived before she could finish the sentence. Since their marriage she had never given him a single cent. The threat had no weight at all.

She switched without pausing.

"Otherwise you can move out of my house."

He stared at her.

"Aurelia. Have you been bewitched by him? What's so good about him? Haven't I been good enough to you?"

She sneered.

"What good is your kind of good? Nah has power and influence. He's someone who can actually help me. Tomorrow, I'm taking you to apologize. You'd better figure out what you're going to do."

She left home in the early hours.

Alexander did not sleep that night. Not one minute of it. He sat with the torn pieces in his hand as the hours moved, as the room went from dark to darker to the first pale gray of morning.

By the time the sun came up, two things were clear.

He was not going to apologize.

And this marriage was already over.

He just hadn't said it out loud yet.